bunnyspecs
Forum Enthusiast
As the subject line suggest, I just bought a really lightly used A7Rii, only ~750 actuations. It's on firmware 1.00. Is there any reason I shouldn't upgrade to FW 4.00?
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Just bought a lightly used A7Rii, still on FW 1.00, is there any reason I shouldn't upgrade the FW?
- Thread starter bunnyspecs
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B
BBQue
Guest
I am on latest firmware 4.0 - hack still works as advertised. But Sony's disabling of its camera apps will probably delay my upgrade to A7riii, and maybe I will skip a camera generation.
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I upgraded and regret it, i used to do a lot of astro but the bug is really noticeable if you have access to really dark places like certain parts of New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia. all over the place.. just not really in the states or japan i'd reckon.
i have the newest firmware but i don't use un-compressed raw, but it's nice to have the option (like how star eater should be). The main thing is the focus control improvements brought by the updates. I'm not sure how much changed and when but they made it easier to move around and select the focus point and AF modes. Also in general the FW updates make the camera better except for astrophotogprahy where it automatically smooths out the stars when you take an exposure longer than 3sec even in RAW.
i have the newest firmware but i don't use un-compressed raw, but it's nice to have the option (like how star eater should be). The main thing is the focus control improvements brought by the updates. I'm not sure how much changed and when but they made it easier to move around and select the focus point and AF modes. Also in general the FW updates make the camera better except for astrophotogprahy where it automatically smooths out the stars when you take an exposure longer than 3sec even in RAW.
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BBQue
Guest
That only came with the very latest 4.0 updates. I agree it is very nice to have, and for me of much more value than uncompressed raw or "star eater". But for astro photographers, they could not care less about such conveniences and would love to have that early 1.0 firmware.
mreynolds767
Senior Member
If you want to keep the camera, upgrade the firmware.
You can review the various updates and decide which one you think is best if you don't want the latest but think everyone is guessing about where the 3.2 second thing came into play, Sony sure has never been clear about it and though theories abound I have never seen anything concrete so be careful trying to play that game ; getting uncompressed Raw without star eater may not possible.
If you want to sell the camera, don't upgrade the firmware at all. The 1.0 aspect does give the camera a higher value for a select group of potential buyers that would care.
You can review the various updates and decide which one you think is best if you don't want the latest but think everyone is guessing about where the 3.2 second thing came into play, Sony sure has never been clear about it and though theories abound I have never seen anything concrete so be careful trying to play that game ; getting uncompressed Raw without star eater may not possible.
If you want to sell the camera, don't upgrade the firmware at all. The 1.0 aspect does give the camera a higher value for a select group of potential buyers that would care.
bunnyspecs
Forum Enthusiast
I listed the camera on local buy/sell/trade site here in Toronto and as expected all I've received is a few low-ball offers, people telling me that the A7Riii has been announced, I'm asking for too much since the camera is on sale, etc... In all likelihood I'll probably end up keeping the camera and upgrading the firmware to v4.00 to take advantage of the Focus Standard. I'd love to sell the camera to someone who can benefit from the FW v1.00 (and make bit of money in the process) but it's not worth the trouble. I bought the second body because I shoot primes and want the convenience of not having to change lenses all the time; having 2 identical cameras is more important to me than having two cameras with different functions just to preserve astro capabilities that I'm not likely to need.
l_d_allan
Veteran Member
I only do what I understand to be "entry level" astrophotography, like star trails and Milky Way. For those "use cases", my impression is that the "star eater" issue isn't much of a problem, if any.
I think it becomes a problem with "deep space" captures with a "tracker" to allow much longer exposures, possibly with longer local lengths.
mreynolds767
Senior Member
Not sure you really understand when we state your 1.0 may have higher value, that would be to very select people using the camera for niche purposes.
Posting on a local trade site for Toronto is unlikely the source for many of those.
For your average user the 1.0 aspect would not increase the value one penny if anything it may be a negative.
Listing the camera on a much larger website and be willing to wait awhile to find that rare buyer that oddly values this at a price premium is the only way you could sell it for more.
bunnyspecs
Forum Enthusiast
N
Navman
Guest
There's no need to be left guessing as to when the star eater algorithm was introduced - Jim Kasson's blog makes very clear with irrefutable evidence that it was implemented in v. 3.3 of the firmware. It can be found here.
You also need to remember that installs are not reversible, so you need to be very sure before you install - its a one-way street.
-John
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star eater affects all kinds of astro, especially tracked milky way shots. the updated fw made me give up on astro, it looks like crap compared to my old a7r, kills it for me.
mreynolds767
Senior Member
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